Moving Forward Together Summit Team names annual award winners
The 2017 Moving Forward Together Summit Team is pleased to announce that Speaker Jay Lucas, Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives has been named the 2017 recipient of the South Carolina Legislator of the Year Award and Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter has been named the 2017 recipient of the South Carolina Children’s Champion Award.
Awards will be presented on June 12 at the Metropolitan Convention Center in the Vista, Columbia.
Speaker James H. “Jay” Lucas (R) served as Financial Director, County Administrator, County Attorney and City Judge in House District 65. He is a partner in Lucas, Warr and White, Attorneys at Law. Speaker Lucas was first elected to the General Assembly in 1998. House District 65 had not been represented by a Republican since Reconstruction. He earned the nickname “Landslide Lucas” from former Speaker David Wilkins because he won by a mere handful of votes. After serving several terms in office, he was elected Chairman of the Darlington County Republican Party. In November 2010, his colleagues in the House elected him as Speaker Pro Tempore. Speaker Lucas believes that he has a responsibility as Speaker to enact reforms that will better the lives of all South Carolina families. He has become the proud recipient of several prestigious awards. Earlier this year, he received the Wilkins Award for Excellence in Legislative Leadership from the Riley Institute and the Jimmy Newsom Signature Award for his contributions to public education in Darlington County. He has also been recognized by the Mental Health Association; South Carolina Chamber of Commerce; South Carolina Recreation, Parks, and Tourism; South Carolina Solicitors Association; South Carolina Farm Bureau; South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association; and the Institute for Child Success. Speaker James H. “Jay” Lucas is truly South Carolina’s Legislator of the Year.
Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter (D) has served as the Executive Director of Court Appointed Special Advocates Family Services (CASA) since 1985. She was the first African American woman in Orangeburg County ever elected to a state office when she was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1992. She became the first freshman ever appointed to and is now ranking member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. She is a member of the Joint Bond Review Committee. She has worked on the national, regional and state levels on a variety of progressive issues aimed at making communities a better place for working families to live. Her longstanding commitment to community service is reflected in her active participation on numerous boards and commissions, including vice president of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. Representative Cobb-Hunter believes that providing financial aid to students trying to improve their lives through education is an investment in the future of South Carolina. She championed college access and success for low-income and educationally disadvantaged students. She received an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from both the Medical University of South Carolina and the College of Charleston and the highly coveted David Wilkins Legislative Leadership Award from the Riley Institute at Furman University. Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter is truly South Carolina’s Children’s Champion.
The primary objective of this Summit is to improve race relations among law enforcement agencies and the home, the school, an d within the community by helping stakeholders develop a measurable framework for understanding and addressing cultural differences within their particular communities. The Summit will convene on June 12 and 13. Schools, law enforcement agencies, the faith community, civic groups, and community organizations are encouraged to bring teams to include youth.
For additional information, register for and/or become a Summit sponsor, visit www.blueribbonschools.com/conferences, click on Moving Forward Together National Summit or contact Dr. Gary L. Burgess, Sr. at 864-760-3656 or gary@blueribbonschools.com.